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Timeline of Events in Re Account of Österreichische Zuckerindustrie AG Syndicate

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Timeline of Events in Re Account of Österreichische Zuckerindustrie AG Syndicate Exhibit C Timeline of Events In re Account of Österreichische Zuckerindustrie AG Syndicate 1909 August 6 ÖZAG is founded, with its headquarters on the upper floors of Ferdinand and Adele Bloch-Bauer s Elisabethstrasse residence in Vienna and its factory in Bruck an der Leitha (Lower Austria). 1916 February 18 Claimant Maria Altmann is born in Vienna to Gustav and Therese Bloch-Bauer. 1938 March 5 Syndicate Agreement is concluded in Zurich, Switzerland, representing 71,246 shares (89%) of the total 80,000 ÖZAG shares. March 13 ÖZAG shares worth S 300.00 (RM 200.00) each, which would indicate that the company s market value was S 24,000,000.00 (according to Vienna Stock Exchange as reported in 1946 Registration). March 13 ÖZAG s share capital consists of 80,000 shares with nominal value of S 125 per share, totaling S 10,000,000.00 (according to 1946 Registration of confiscated assets submitted to Vienna Magistrate s District Court by public administrator appointed by British Military Government for Vienna). March (prior to Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer flees Austria to summer home in Anschluss) Czechoslovakia, a large castle and estate outside Prague. March 12-13 (night Leopold Bloch-Bauer s wife and son, Antoinette and Peter of Anschluss) Bloch-Bauer, and the children of Antoinette s brother Hans Pick, [REDACTED] and [REDACTED], drive to the border of Austria and Czechoslovakia and escape to Czechoslovakia. March 13 (shortly Leopold Bloch-Bauer, Ferdinand s nephew and Otto Pick s son- after Anschluss) in-law, is arrested by Gestapo and jailed for nine days in Vienna. March 14 The Gestapo comes to ÖZAG s Vienna offices and confiscates the register and books and orders that a Nazi party member be appointed to run the company. March 28 The attorneys for Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer and Viktor Pfeiffer appear before tax authorities in an attempt to preempt criminal tax proceedings. April 20 Guido Walcher submits his resume to Nazi authorities seeking a 1 Exhibit C position as accountant or auditor in the municipal or state government. April 26 By decree, the Nazi Regime requires all Jews who reside within the Reich, and/or who are nationals of the Reich, including Austria, and who hold assets above a specified level to register all their assets as of 27 April 1938. April 27 Criminal tax proceedings are initiated by the Nazis against ÖZAG and Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer personally, despite Bloch- Bauer and Pfeiffer s preemptory declarations. April 29 Walcher submits his interim report on the audit of ÖZAG s books. May 20 Walcher delivers his 24 page final audit report revealing alleged discrepancies consisting of false entries, erasures, hidden accounts, and illegal payments. His report concludes that these irregularities, purportedly amounting to fraud and embezzlement, were carried out by Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer and Viktor Pfeiffer. May (middle) According to Otto Pick s post-War affidavit, Dr. H. Mann from a Vienna bank visits Pick in Zurich to coerce him to turn over his assets. If Pick agrees to do so, his son-in-law, Leopold Bloch-Bauer, will get permission to leave Austria. May 31 Leopold Bloch-Bauer departs Austria for Switzerland, after the Merkurbank guarantees payment of his flight tax. June After his arrival in Switzerland, Leopold Bloch-Bauer, through the Bank, offers a block of 10,000 shares belonging to Otto Pick to the Länderbank Wien at RM 160.00 per share. There are no purchasers at this price and the offer lapses. July The Nazis confiscate Otto Pick s house at Reisnerstrasse 40 in Vienna for use by the Reich Propaganda Office. July 2 Gustav Bloch-Bauer, Ferdinand s brother and Leopold s father, dies and leaves his estate to his wife, Therese, who is still in Vienna. August Leopold and Antoinette Bloch-Bauer travel with their son Peter and Hans and Eva Pick and their children by ship from England to Quebec, Canada. After emigrating, the Bloch-Bauers change their name to [REDACTED], and the Picks change their name to [REDACTED]. 2 Exhibit C September When the Nazis annex the Sudetenland, Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer flees Czechoslovakia to Zurich. November 9 10 Kristallnacht--literally, Night of Crystal --is usually referred to as the Night of Broken Glass. It is the name given to the violent anti-Jewish pogrom of November 9 and 10, 1938. Instigated primarily by Nazi party officials and the SA (Nazi Storm Troopers), the pogrom occurred throughout Germany (including annexed Austria and the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia). The name Kristallnacht has its origin in the untold numbers of broken windows of synagogues, Jewish- owned stores, community centers, and homes plundered and destroyed during the pogrom. December 3 Nazi authorities instruct the Länderbank Wien to purchase all available shares of ÖZAG and nominate Clemens Auer and Martin Brinkmann A.G. of Hamburg as potential ultimate purchasers. December 5 The Länderbank advises Auer and Brinkmann that the Property Control Office (Vermögensverkehrstelle) wished to utilize the status of uncertainty created by the criminal tax proceedings for the aryanization and repatriation of the enterprise and therefore instructs them to submit bids to procure the majority of the shares as soon as possible. December 17 The Bank transmits a copy of the Länderbank s letter concerning the purchase of ÖZAG shares to the Syndicate members. December 20 Clemens Auer writes a letter to the Länderbank instructing it to acquire the ÖZAG shares for his account. He authorizes the Länderbank to offer RM 70.00 or, in the event that more than 20,000 shares (25% of the total) could be obtained, RM 75.00 per share, and sets December 29, 1938 as the deadline for his offer. December 22 In a letter, the Bank notifies the Syndicate members of Auer s offer, noting that Director Pilgrin of the Länderbank had informed the Syndicate that there was considerable discussion favoring the nationalization of the factory and that, in that event, it was doubtful whether a similar offer would be forthcoming. In its letter, the Bank writes that we were unable to achieve the unanimous agreement of the syndicate during the conferences on the sale, while some members of the syndicate, did not find the Vienna offer worthy of discussion, other members appeared not averse to a sale in the event of an improvement of the offer. 3 Exhibit C Not only in case of these difficulties is the continuation of the syndicate hard, but also because the addresses of several members of the syndicate are no longer known. Because of these difficulties and also because the situation has changed since the foundation of the syndicate we should like to propose the syndicate be dissolved according to the decision made at the beginning of March 1938. If we have not received information to the contrary by 15 January 1939 we shall assume your approval. December 22 Therese Bloch-Bauer renounces her late husband s legacy in an effort to gain permission to leave Austria. December 30 Clemens Auer purchases 26,480 ÖZAG shares from the Bank for RM 75.00 per share. These shares included 16,480 shares owned by the Graetz family and 10,000 shares owned by Sapafin A. G. Chur, which was wholly owned by Otto Pick. Auer also acquires an additional 10,567 shares for RM 75.00 per share. Of these 10,567 shares, 6,500 had been held at the Bank in Zurich by Sapafin A.G. Chur through Pick s agents, Davies and Lloyd, and 3,687 shares had been held by Pick directly and had been deposited at the Länderbank in Vienna. The provenance of the remaining 380 shares is not known. The proceeds of the sales were credited by the Länderbank to the debt that Pick allegedly owed it. The Länderbank also informs Auer that it has a firm offer for an additional 3,300 shares. These acquisitions bring Auer s holdings in ÖZAG to 40,347 shares and secures for him a majority holding of the company. 1939 January 15 Deadline set by the Bank for responses to its letter of December 22, 1938 proposing the dissolution of the Syndicate. January 22 Dr. Rinesch is appointed trustee for Therese s and Gustav s five children. He declares that four of the five children renounce the inheritance and that the fifth, Luise Baroness Gutmann, who is a citizen of Yugoslavia, is the sole beneficiary. February 25 A flight tax of RM 172,238.00 is assessed against Luise Gutmann, even though, as a Yugoslavian citizen, she is not subject to the Reich s jurisdiction. March 31 The Vienna Finance Office confiscates 21,665 shares of ÖZAG belonging to the Löw group and 3,300 shares belonging to Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, all of which had been held in Vienna, in 4 Exhibit C connection with criminal tax proceedings. June 16 Pursuant to an order of the Vienna Finance Office, 2,335 shares belonging to Gustav Bloch-Bauer that were deposited in the Creditanstalt Bankverein in Vienna are seized in connection with flight tax assessed against Gustav s widow, Therese Bloch- Bauer. June 28 Auer acquires, through the Länderbank, 7,215 shares of ÖZAG that were held in Zurich by the Bank on behalf of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer (6,270 shares), Gustav Bloch-Bauer (440 shares), Robert Bloch-Bauer (305 shares) and Maria Altmann (the Claimant) (200 shares) for RM 83.33 per share. August 28 Clemens Auer purchases 24,965 ÖZAG shares from the Vienna Finance Office (Finanzamt für Verkehrssteuern, Wien) for RM 90.00 per share. These shares include 21,665 shares that had been owned by the Löw group and the 3,300 shares owned by Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, all of which had been held in Vienna and had been seized on March 31, 1939 pursuant to orders of the Vienna Finance Office in connection with ongoing tax proceedings.
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